Stone Age

American  

noun

1. the period in the history of humankind, preceding the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, and marked by the use of stone implements and weapons: subdivided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods.

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Stone Age British  

noun

1. a period in human culture identified by the use of stone implements and usually divided into the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic stages

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1. (sometimes not capitals) of or relating to this period

   stone-age man

Stone Age Scientific  

1. The earliest known period of human culture, marked by the use of stone tools.

2. See Mesolithic Neolithic Paleolithic See Note at Three Age system

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Stone Age Cultural  

1. A period encompassing all of human history, perhaps several million years, before the Bronze Age. In the Stone Age, people learned to make and use stone tools and weapons.

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Etymology

Origin of Stone Age

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

"They're taking us back into the stone age as far as I'm concerned", he said.

From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026

The museum will display the country's remarkable fossil heritage, including this newly identified spinosaur, along with artifacts from stone age cultures that lived in a once lush Green Sahara.

From Science Daily • Feb. 23, 2026

At the same time, these teams are in the Super Bowl because they’re not completely stuck in the stone age.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026

Without the fats, their high intake of lean animal meats could have led to protein poisoning, so stone age soup was an important complement to primeval nutrition.

From Salon • Jun. 5, 2023

Selfishness and covetousness stood abashed among these children of the stone age, and in their stead were awakened holy feelings of human pity and a spirit of self-denying charity.

From True Tales of Arctic Heroism in the New World by Greely, Adolphus W.